


To Be Together

by FitzsimmonsForever



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Post 4x22, Post-Framework Universe (Marvel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 20:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11066331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FitzsimmonsForever/pseuds/FitzsimmonsForever
Summary: He hasn’t spoken to her in at least two weeks and she is starting to wonder if he even wants this anymore.





	To Be Together

**Author's Note:**

> This was requested on Tumblr as a little angst prompt thing I was doing. I… I hope you guys do enjoy this. My heart is breaking for my little science children. :’(

He hasn’t spoken to her in at least two weeks. 

It’s not like she hadn’t been expecting it, this distance between them. She had known he was going to need some space. She had known that he would attempt to take all the blame for himself and try to keep away from her because of it. 

She had just hoped it wouldn’t take this long, had hoped that he would let her sit beside him during their meals, had hoped that they could talk in front of the little window in her room and watch the entirety of the galaxy pass by around them. 

She had hoped she could share his burdens, even if just a little. 

But he had not spoken to her in days, and is still not looking in her direction as she tries to catch his attention. It is frustrating and a part of her wonders if she should just give up. 

It’s not because she doesn’t love him. It’s not because she thinks it’s his fault. But after weeks and weeks of silence, she wonders if he even wants this anymore, wants them to be together anymore. 

The thought makes her stomach churn. The tray of mushy mashed potatoes in front of her doesn’t look the slightest bit appealing. She pushes it towards the corner, fingers drumming lightly atop the metal surface of the table. 

Fitz sits across the room, as far away from the rest of the team as he possibly can, head down, hands folded in front of him. She watches him sadly. 

“When are you going to go talk to him?” Daisy asks from beside her. 

Jemma looks over at her friend with a sigh. “I don’t know. I don’t want to push him into talking when he isn’t ready.” 

Daisy gives a little shake from her head, taking another bite of food with a hum. She didn’t seem to mind the meals they were given as much of the rest of the team, saying that back in her days, she had worse things than freeze-dried steak. 

“He doesn’t have to talk about anything that happened yet. But he needs you, Simmons. Giving him space is just confirming his worst fears,” Daisy says. She pushes back from the table and picks up her tray, kicking her chair back in place with the heel of her boot. 

“You’re right,” Jemma says with a sigh. “I… You’re right, Daisy.” 

“Of course I am. I always am,” she says with a grin. “Now, I am going to go talk to Coulson about this whole mess with being in the middle of space, and you are going to go talk to Fitz, okay?”

With that, her friend leaves her sitting alone at the table. 

 

It takes Jemma a minute to work up the courage to stand up. Her hands shake as she walks over to him. 

What is she going to tell him? What if he just stands up and walks away?

She stops beside his seat, her mouth opening and closing as she tries to find the words she wants to say. 

“Remember when you said we’d always be together?” she blurts out finally. 

He looks up when he hears the sound of her voice. He is pale, his eyes bloodshot as if he hadn’t slept as long as they had been in space. Her heart flutters. 

“Because I remember when I thought you meant it,” she finishes. 

His eyes are full of tears and part of her wants to take the words back. But even though she loves him with everything she has, she is angry, furious that he wouldn’t speak with her, hurt that he is trying to do everything alone. 

She has to talk to him, and this is the only way she knows how. 

“I- I-“ he tries to stammer, looking away from her eyes. It takes him a minute to collect himself, and she lets him, watching as he takes slow breaths. He’s counting to ten, she knows. It’s something she taught him back at SHIELD Academy.

_Back when everything was simpler._

“I did mean it, Jemma. I _do_ mean it,” he says. “I just-“

He doesn’t continue. 

She sits down on the chair next to him, keeping her hands folded in her lap so she wont reach out to brush the tears off his cheeks. 

“Then why aren’t you talking to me now, Fitz?” she asks, already knowing the answer. 

He shakes his head, still not looking at her. She waits. 

“I’m afraid.” 

She doesn’t say anything, letting him collect his thoughts, allowing him to tell her as much as she is willing. Her heart beat feels fast and fluttery in her chest. 

“I’m afraid of what I’ll do to you- of what I’m capable of,” he says. 

They sit in silence. Jemma hesitantly takes his hand in her own, feeling him flinch a little under her touch. She rubs her thumb over his knuckles. 

“You’re not _him,_ Fitz,” she says. 

“But I was, Jemma! That was me!” 

He isn’t shouting, but there is a force behind his words, something violent and painful that turns his whispers into screams. She can feel eyes on the back of her head and she glances over to see Daisy and Coulson watching them from across the room.

This isn’t the time or place to be having this conversation. Neither of them are ready. 

She brings his hands to her face, pressing her lips against his warm, dry skin. 

“Do you want to be together, Fitz?” she asks. “Disregarding what happened- ignoring the Framework and AIDA and everything that happened, I mean. Do you want to be together?” 

He doesn’t hesitate. 

_“Yes.”_

It is one word. But it is so full of pain, so full of agonizing longing that it meant more than a thousand promises. 

“Then that’s all I need, Fitz,” she says, and she pulls him closer to her. “All I need is for you to try. All I need is for you to want me as much as I want you, no matter what you did in that other world, okay?” 

He takes a shuddering breath. His palms are warm against her back. 

“Okay.”


End file.
